With 48 days to go until the 6·3 presidential election, organizations supporting the pledges of the Democratic Party of Korea presidential primary candidate Lee Jae-myung are also making their presence felt. Even when divided into groups inside and outside the party, there are as many as eight. These groups present policies in key areas, and candidate Lee receives reports and goes through a selection process. Thus, they are in a 'mindful competition' among various policy units.
◇Policy committee and Democratic research institute, final gateway for the party's pledges
According to a comprehensive report by ChosunBiz on the 17th, the policy organizations addressing the party's presidential pledges are classified into at least eight groups: ▲ Policy Committee ▲ Democratic Research Institute ▲ Governance Planning Headquarters ▲ Future Economic Growth Strategy Committee ▲ Basic Social Committee ▲ Peoples' Economy Advisory Meeting ▲ Salary Defense Team ▲ Growth and Integration.
The policy committee is the official policy organization representing the party. Chairperson Jin Sung-jun oversees the policies of the party. When various special committees or think tanks research and develop pledges and report them, the policy committee selects and finalizes them. In addition, a 'Policy Coordination Committee' under the policy committee, centered on the secretaries of each standing committee, also adjusts policies by area.
The Democratic Research Institute, led by Director Lee Han-joo, is the official think tank responsible for the party's policy development and strategic planning. It is spearheading the publication of a green paper containing the outlines of presidential pledges via its policy communication platform 'Everyone's Questions Q.' At the end of this month, once the primary results are confirmed, these organizations will take the lead in the policy group centered around the party's presidential candidate.
◇'Lee Jae-myung's direct supervision' and 'Lee Jae-myung as chairperson'... five committees
The organizations created under the 'Lee Jae-myung leadership system' are attracting more attention. The Governance Planning Headquarters, which was launched in October last year, is headed by Chief Commissioner Kim Min-seok. Chief Commissioner Kim is regarded as a key aide, as candidate Lee directly provided support via YouTube broadcasts during last year's party convention. Shortly after the launch of the second term of the Lee Jae-myung leadership, strategic plans have been devised for preparing the 'Lee Jae-myung government.'
The 'Future Economic Growth Strategy Committee,' led by Chief Commissioner Lee Un-joo, who is a former executive of S-Oil, has also significantly expanded its size. Recently, it was reorganized into 18 policy subcommittees and appointed former Vice Minister Ahn Do-gul as the chief deputy chairperson. Experts including former bureaucrats and professors have been invited to each subcommittee focused on economy, security, new technology, and new industries to devise presidential policies.
The 'Basic Social Committee' is chaired directly by the former representative Lee Jae-myung. Representative Park Joo-min, who was the chief vice representative in the first term of Lee's leadership, serves as the chief deputy chairperson. This organization aims to flesh out execution plans for the 'basic social' core principles of the candidate's policies. The 'Peoples' Economy Advisory Meeting' is co-chaired by the candidate and Im Tae-yeon, former secretary for small businesses at the Blue House. The meeting aims to discover economic policies through civil society and various stakeholders.
The non-permanent special committee 'Salary Defense Team' is a tax policy organization directly supervised by Lee Jae-myung. It started to protect the finances of wage earners and is leading various tax reforms. Lim Kwang-hyun, a former vice commissioner and lawmaker whom the candidate directly recruited to the party during the last general election, serves as the secretary. Major tax issues, including revisions to earned income tax and inheritance tax proposed by the candidate during his time as party leader, were also discussed within this organization.
◇KDI Yoo Jong-il deployed forward, external 'expert corps'
The external think tank 'Growth and Integration' has as many as 500 founding members. Yoo Jong-il, an honorary professor at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), and Heo Min, a professor in the Earth Environment Science Department at Chonnam National University, serve as co-chairpersons of this group of policy experts. They have recruited a number of individuals with government experience, including former heads of the Office for Government Policy Coordination and former vice ministers from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The policies will be subdivided into 34 sectors, focusing on enhancing industrial competitiveness as the top priority. Earlier, candidate Lee personally met with Professor Yoo Jong-il, asking him to "gather only the true policy experts to ensure stable government operation." There are also discussions underway about a 'funnel fund' in national strategic advanced industries, such as artificial intelligence, where the government leads investments, with private sector participation.
With the proliferation of policy organizations, competition among each unit's pledges is also taking place. In fact, when candidate Lee proposed the so-called 'K-NVIDIA' during his time as party leader, the Future Economic Growth Strategy Committee and Growth and Integration both pursued their own sovereign wealth fund pledges. A Democratic Party official noted, "Given the nature of the former representative Lee, instead of granting full authority to a specific organization, multiple units are created to compete, allowing the best proposal among them to be chosen."